Vulnerable groups' access to agroforestry ecosystem services in north-eastern mountains in Tanzania and its implication on special needs inclusivity

Abstract Mountainous environments are particularly vulnerable to land degradation due to steep slopes, fragile soils, increasing population, severe shortages of pastureland, and climate change. This situation results in a loss of ecosystem services (ES), which unequally affects vulnerable groups who rely on access to ES closer to their homes. This study assesses the extent to which vulnerable groups access agroforestry systems’ ES in the Northern Mountains of Tanzania. A socioeconomic survey and descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to identify individual households with vulnerabilities and analyze their attributes and access to ES. Correlation analysis was employed to determine the relationships between the different types and levels of vulnerability and access to different ES from agroforestry. The results showed that the main types of vulnerabilities identified were single-headed households, including female-headed households, widowed-headed households, and households with one or more people living with a cognitive or physical disability. The results revealed that across the studied agroforestry systems, female-headed households are facing problems in accessing food (92%), timber (86%) and energy (75%). People living with disabilities indicated that they were problematic in accessing food (90%) and energy (76%). Among the studied Agroforestry systems, female-headed households in Miraba faced more difficulties in accessing the most important ES, that is, food (60%), timber (53%), and energy (50%). Our study can be of interest to future policy interventions for vulnerable groups, including special needs inclusivity in society. Finally, we discuss the potential implications of social support and welfare programmes in the northern mountainous environments of Tanzania.